1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to furniture. More specifically, the invention relates to a plastic tube forming furniture kit carried in a case to a prospective customer's house to display how various furniture and related pieces in full size would be positioned in a specific room.
2. Description of the Related Art
The related art of interest describes various plastic forms for forming furniture and the like, but none discloses the present invention. There is a need for a homeowner to visualize how various furniture pieces would be located in a room. The related art will be discussed in the order of perceived relevance to the present invention.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,353,661 issued on Oct. 12, 1982, to Hubert Ruther describes an exhibition/house furniture as well as a play and sport equipment comprising building elements which can be combined in any desired manner as its parts, namely plug connectors, connecting pipes, toggles, and plates. The positive plug connection between a connector socket of a plug connector and a pipe end of a connecting pipe of circular-cylindrical form so as to form a plug unit is secured in form logged (positive) fashion by a toggle. For inserting plates between parallel connecting pipes, clamp connections are provided. The apparatus is distinguishable for requiring specially configured rigid elements for combining parts to form a rigid structure.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,678,553 issued on Jul. 25, 1972, to Marc S. Hermelin describes a method of preparing an article of furniture from plastic foam comprises a layer of flexible urethane foam material folded to form furniture and held in shape by a positioning bar and/or adhesives. The furniture is distinguishable for requiring plastic foam material.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,775,778 issued on Jul. 7, 1998, to Paula Riley et al. describes a shape-adaptable and renewable furniture system by adding and removing modules and accessories to and from a base structure of wood, metal and plastic elements adapted to accept the modules and accessories. The system is distinguishable for requiring wood, metal and/or plastic elements covered with a muslin fabric.
U.S. Patent Application Publication No. U.S. 2002/0093235 A1 published on Jul. 18, 2002, for Alfred G. Niederman et al. describes a modular upholstered furniture construction that is distinguishable for requiring upholstery.
U.S. Patent Application Publication No. U.S. 2002/0105211 A1 published on Aug. 8, 2002, for Glenn M. Laughlin et al. describes a folding ready-to-assemble upholstered furniture which is distinguishable for requiring upholstery.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,873,219 issued on Mar. 25, 1975, to Giancarlo Pofferi describes a demountable metal scaffolding and the like structures formed by connecting a pair of co-axial spaced connection members. The structures are distinguishable for requiring the joining of scaffolding and the like.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,887,234 issued on Jun. 3, 1975, to William R. Curtis et al. describes a structural foam furniture subframe which is distinguishable for requiring a foam plastic subframe.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,912,087 issued on Oct. 14, 1975, to Walter Zeischegg describes a modular frame assembly for making furniture such as tables, shelves, and the like comprising a plurality of uniform cylindrical hollow post and beam bars made of extruded synthetic resin, and junction pieces with three projections for forming the corners. The assembly is distinguishable for requiring a synthetic resin frame.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,973,854 issued on Aug. 10, 1976, to Charles F. Gilbo et al. describes connectors for tubular framing members having a square cross-section which is distinguishable for being limited to joining framing members with the same cross-section.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,039,263 issued on Aug. 3, 1977, to Otto Bassler describes a spherical connector joint for connecting a plurality of cylindrical rods which is distinguishable for being limited to joining metal rods.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,129,975 issued on Dec. 19, 1978, to Richard J. Gabriel describes a construction set comprising a plurality of hollow 26 faceted metal joint elements with openings in each facet configured to receiving elongated struts for interconnecting a plurality of joint elements to form a three-dimensional framework. The construction set is distinguishable for requiring specific faceted joint elements.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,368,998 issued on Jan. 18, 1983, to James A. Pestoor describes a tube assembling device comprising a metal device for coupling or plugging hollow square tubing which is distinguishable for requiring metal connectors for metal parts.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,664,550 issued on May 12, 1987, to Rolf D. Jachmann et al. describes a junction piece for releasably connecting rod-shaped elements with one another having a junction ball and a pin element which is distinguishable for requiring metal ball and pin elements.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,677,804 issued on Jul. 7, 1987, to Richard E. Holt describes demountable frames for furniture comprising steel structural members extending between two fixed spaced steel members being fitted in place by the extension of projections at the ends of the structural member into the spaced members without moving the latter apart, and can be removed by reversing the process. The demountable frames are distinguishable for requiring metal elements.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,787,191 issued on Nov. 29, 1988, to Hiroshi Shima describes elements for constructing a three-dimensional structure comprising beams that make edges, polygonal plates that make faces, and joints with arms that connect the beams and/or polygonal plates with each other so that a structure is formed, wherein the ends of the joint arms is formed into a spherical shape and bearings which have a grasping menas and polygonal plates so that of said berings can be engaged or disengaged with it freely. The joints are formed into at least two shapes from an elastic material so that they can be used singly or in conjunction with the others in connecting said beams and/or polygonal plates, and hooks are provided to hold the beams by their sides. The joining devices are distinguishable by their unique polygonal shapes.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,921,369 issued on May 1, 1990, to Bonnie G. Chew, II et al. describes a connector for portable furniture including a bed and a child enclosure comprising rods with keys that engage slots in the tubes of the furniture frame. The connectors are distinguishable for requiring a four- or three-sided keyed connector.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,007,220 issued on Apr. 16, 1991, to Haresh Lalvani describes a non-periodic and periodic layered space frames having prismatic nodes that are distinguishable for requiring prismatic nodes.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,499,882 issued on Mar. 19, 1996, to Robert W. Waterhouse describes a redundant joint with three-way plumbing elbows that is distinguishable for requiring three-way joint structures.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,536,063 issued on Jul. 16, 1996, in two parts for C. Cecelia C. Cable describes a collapsible recreational chair made of aluminum, steel or plastic with a flexible back support made of canvas, plastic, leather, or nylon. The chair is distinguishable for requiring metal parts.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,536,097 issued on Jul. 16, 1996, to Jacques Hazan describes an assembly system for the construction of modular furniture using a plurality of metal pipes having an orthogonal array of coplanar openings and a threaded bore at the opposite end. The modular furniture is distinguishable for requiring metal pipes.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,549,408 issued on Aug. 27, 1996, to Wei W. Lo describes a metal connector for built-up toy furniture having a circular block shape with a circular top recess for mounting a male vertical frame rod, a circular bottom recess for mounting a female vertical frame, a center through hole communicated between the circular top and bottom recesses for allowing the screw rod section of the male vertical frame rod to pass and to be threaded in the screw hole of the female vertical frame rod, a plurality of radial holes for mounting a horizontal frame rod, and a plurality of countersunk holes around the circular top recess for mounting a screw bolt to hold down each horizontal frame rod in each radial hole. The connector device is distinguishable for requiring its specific metal structure.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,598,790 issued on Feb. 4, 1997, to Preben B. Fich describes a furniture table with a tubular underframe of tubular legs. The table is distinguishable for requiring a plurality of legs.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,636,491, issued on Jun. 10, 1997, to Paul Scharer et al. describes a circular or trapezoidal furniture frame construction with several rod elements that are connected at a node point by a node element having several holes that are arranged in principal axes orthogonal in pairs. The furniture is distinguishable for requiring specific node joint elements.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,678,706 issued on Oct. 21, 1997, to Vaclav Husak et al. describes modular furniture made by laminated paper or paperboard tubes. The furniture is distinguishable for requiring paper tubes.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,918,998 issued on Jul. 6, 1999, to Tuoraj Pourmand describes a joint for three-dimensional framed structures for interior use comprising three identical shaped surfaces or wings resembling the corner of a cube having two different segments that is distinguishable for requiring a three-dimensional joint device.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,983,420 issued on Nov. 16, 1999, to Max L. Tilley describes a sleeping unit for furnishing a standardized room having two dresser units. Each dresser unit comprising a rectangular box-like frame constructed of 1×1 aluminum tubing and welded joints. The dressers are distinguishable for being made of aluminum tubing and welded joints.
German Patent Application No. DE 40 06 836 A1 published on Feb. 13, 1992, for Sigrid Reelitz describes a quick-assembly furniture kit consisting of polygonal connecting pieces and lengthwise supporting struts which can be assembled without tools by utilizing a pusher-mechanism requiring internal springs in the ends of the supporting struts. The kit is distinguishable for requiring connecting pieces with internal springs.
German Patent Application No. DE 43 02 696 A1 published on Sep. 23, 1993, for Eberhard Rensch describes a furniture kit for tables, chairs, box frames or wood, glass or plastics panels having rods with holes in through which fit connecting elements with a screw end, a cylindrical end and a cylindrical intermediate piece. The furniture kit is distinguishable for requiring rods with connecting holes.
A website publication, http://www.crawleydesign.com, noted Oct. 2, 2003, 2 pages, shows two foam models having a tag on top, a digitized table, and two printed stubs on its rear surface. The foam models are distinguishable for failing to reveal the ultimate shape of the articles.
None of the above inventions and patents, taken either singly or in combination, is seen to describe the instant invention as claimed. Thus, a life size furniture kit solving the aforementioned problems is desired.